


Worth It

by blynninja



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Clubbing, F/M, Gen, Other, Song lyric inspired, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 00:47:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5354561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blynninja/pseuds/blynninja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Song "Worth It" inspired this little thing wherein the gang are in college/university and Tea is with Johnny Stepps, only Yugi and the boys feel that should change. Partly inspired by 2x04 "Steppin' Out" as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth It

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this over a year ago after a song from my Spotify playlist made me think of Tea. So it might feel a little off or unfinished. But I rewatched the ep recently and felt like it was time to post this.  
> Everybody is in the 20yo age range for this one. Because reasons. (Unless Japan’s drinking age is different from America’s, which Google tells me it isn’t by much.)  
> Also, using the duel disk idea instead of those big fancy things like on the island.  
> English names because I grew up on the dub.

_You've given more and had enough_  
_And I won't say that we were meant to be,_  
_But you deserve to be more than a trophy_

 _I may be a dead man walking,_  
_But I can't stand to see those tears in your eyes_  


_Dance with me_  
_Before your date kills me_  
_This is my last request_  
_You're worth it, just say yes_  
  
\--“Worth It” by Luke Conard feat. Ryan Seiler

\--- 

Joey had convinced Yugi that they needed a night out after a crazy week of final exams, and once Tristan and Duke had chimed in, he hadn’t been able to turn them down. And now here they were, sitting at a corner booth in one of Domino’s less troubled clubs. They’d had to spend ten minutes convincing the bouncer outside that Yugi truly was 21, since he hadn’t had much of a growth spurt after high school, but they were here, waiting for their drinks and observing the crowd.

Joey had started dating Mai last year, so he wasn’t as focused on the female population of the club as Tristan and Duke were, which Yugi rather appreciated. College—even just the junior college in Domino—had leveled Joey’s head quite a bit, which had been nice to see. Tristan and Duke were still a little hot-headed at times, and occasionally still argued over which of them might start dating Serenity, but a look from Joey always shut them up.

Like now. One of the women in the club looked rather like Serenity, and it had Duke and Tristan in another argument. Yugi sighed and looked at Joey, who was scowling.

“Stop talkin’ about my sister. If she hasn’t picked one a’ you bozos yet, you prob’ly don’t have a shot.”

That was the wrong thing to say, causing Tristan and Duke to begin arguing with Joey.

Yugi wasn’t listening, though, having seen Domino’s resident bad-boy dancing champion walk in the door with yet another girl on his arm. There was always a girl, though Johnny seemed to go through them rather quickly. This week’s girlfriend was, unsurprisingly, an apparent dance groupie. And she was, surprisingly, a brunette. Typically Johnny was in the company of blondes, and the club knew it. The girl was ignoring the stares, though, trying to engage Stepps in a conversation that he was thoroughly ignoring.

Yugi frowned as he continued to watch them. Ignoring his date for a while was typical of Johnny, but not completely as he was doing to this girl. How had she even ended up with him?

Yugi was willing to bet this girl had dreams of dance that she figured a relationship with Johnny could help fulfill. Unfortunately, she had picked the wrong guy. Johnny was only interested in pursuing his own career, not helping others.

As the couple made the rounds through the club, the girl trying to stay cheerful as she met Johnny’s friends, it became apparent that Johnny was more interested in the other girls than his date, and she was figuring it out.

But she wouldn’t dare break up with him here and now, in front of all of his friends. Surely she had learned their social rules by now and knew complaining would result in some sort of insult or humiliation.

Yugi continued to watch her, and eventually Duke, Tristan, and Joey noticed his abnormally long silence and took a moment to determine what had his attention.

Duke whistled, Tristan mumbled something about her being pretty, and even Joey’s jaw dropped a little.

“Guys,” Yugi frowned at them, disappointed at their missing the point. “She’s trying really hard to fit into Johnny’s circle, but he’s totally ignoring her.”

“And pushing her around when he’s not ignoring her,” Duke pointed out, tilting his glass in the couple’s direction. Their drinks had come while Yugi had been distracted, apparently.

Yugi was horrified to see that Johnny was indeed gripping the girl much tighter than was necessary as he scolded her for some infraction that they couldn’t hear from their table.

“Look, he’s totally taking another girl dancing while she just sits there,” Tristan frowned as Johnny walked off. “I knew Johnny was a jerk, but you don’t just leave your date hanging like that, even if she did tick you off.”

“It’s not right,” Yugi said, making his way out of the booth to Duke’s amusement and Tristan’s dismay.

“Oh no. He’s totally dead if Johnny sees him,” Tristan groaned, face-palming.

Duke just grinned. “Yeah, but what a way to go.”

“Hi, my name’s Yugi,” Yugi said as he reached the girl, sticking out a hand with a smile.

“Um, hi,” the girl replied skeptically, glancing at Johnny, who was focused on the other girl he had taken onto the floor.

“What’s your name?” Yugi prodded, smile still in place.

“Um, Téa.”

“So, Téa, would you like to dance?”

“Oh, I don’t know—”

“Oh, come on! Just one dance?” Yugi tried the puppy-dog eyes that seemed to still work so well on people, and Téa sighed.

“Okay, but just one. And only because my boyfriend is dancing with a friend.”

Yugi heard the catch in her voice and pretended he didn’t see the tears she blinked away as he took her hand and lead her onto the dance floor.

As they danced, Yugi was glad to see Téa loosen up a little, seeming not to worry about Johnny for a few moments. She was obviously a dancer at heart: she let the music guide her but not dictate her every step, and she grinned all the while, so he could tell she was enjoying herself. Absently he wondered why she was with Johnny when she had so much talent on her own.

When the song he’d dragged her onto the floor for had ended, Téa smiled at him, and Yugi grinned back. “Thank you for the dance, Téa.”

“No, thank _you_ ,” Téa replied quietly, glancing over to where Johnny was dancing with a new girl.

“If he’s not treating you right, you should probably break up with him,” Yugi offered, watching her steadily.

Téa flushed, shaking her head. “I couldn’t do that. He’s so good to me usually.”

Yugi raised an eyebrow but sighed and decided to drop it.

“Well, if you need some company, my friends and I are over there,” he said, pointing out the booth. “We’ll probably be here a while.”

“That’s nice of you, but I think I’ll stick with Johnny for a while,” Téa replied, looking away.

“Okay, well then… I’ll see you around, Téa.” Yugi waved awkwardly as he left her alone again and returned to his friends.

Duke applauded as Yugi returned to his seat and Tristan high-fived him, impressed.

“So what’d she say?” Joey asked. “At the end?”

“Also, what’s her name?” Tristan chimed in.

“Oh. Um, her name’s Téa, and I invited her to come sit with us, but she said she wanted to stay with Johnny,” Yugi said quietly, frowning.

“Really?” Duke asked incredulously. “Even after you told her he’s a jerk?”

“You _did_ tell her he’s a jerk, right?” Tristan demanded.

“Well, yeah, I pointed out that he’s not great to her,” Yugi replied, “but she disagreed with me.”

“Well, she’s probably agreein’ with ya now,” Joey said gravely, pointing to where Johnny stood towering over Téa, who had somehow ended up on the floor. Yugi suspected Johnny had pushed or tripped her, and both options made him angry.

The Puzzle gleamed, and Atem ignored his companions’ looks of surprise as he strode across the dance floor to stand behind Johnny. Téa looked up at him, clearly surprised to see him again, and Atem crossed his arms as Johnny turned around.

“What do you want, Porcupine?” Johnny sneered, and several of his buddies laughed, but Atem stood his ground, ignoring the nickname.

“You are bothering this young lady, and that is unacceptable.”

Téa’s eyes widened as Johnny took a step toward him, but Atem wasn’t concerned.

“She’s my girl, and I can do what I want,” Johnny said snidely.

“That is not how relationships work,” Atem said calmly, glancing at Téa, who was now standing.

Johnny scowled, but Atem held his gaze. Téa looked terrified, and even a few of Johnny’s buddies were looking a little less confident as the staring contest continued.

Eventually Johnny’s irritation won out and he raised his fists, ready to fight, but Atem quirked an eyebrow.

“You do not wish to fight me.”

“What are you, a Jedi?” Johnny scoffed, and his buddies started laughing again.

“No, but I have strength you cannot fathom,” Atem assured him.

Téa kept looking back and forth between them, biting her lip nervously.

Atem nodded to her and decided, “You enjoy wagers, do you not, Johnny?”

Johnny stared at him suspiciously but nodded.

“Then I will make you a wager. If I can defeat you in a game, you must let Téa choose her own path, without retaliation if that path is away from you.”

Johnny’s eye twitched, but he stayed silent as Atem continued. “If you win, the same rule applies.”

Téa frowned at him and Johnny demanded, “What’s the point of that?”

“If you win, Téa may choose to stay with you, for you would be the superior man,” Atem replied calmly, fixing Téa with a meaningful look. “If you lose, she may decide to stay with you as well. You never know.”

Johnny tapped his foot anxiously, turning to look at his friends, who all shrugged.

After a few long moments of consideration, Johnny asked, “What’s the game?”

“I believe you are also proficient in Duel Monsters?” Atem asked easily, pulling his deck from a pocket.

Johnny smirked, and the crowd shifted to allow the duel disks and virtual grid to activate.

Joey, Tristan, and Duke wandered over to stand behind Atem, arms crossed as they stared back at Johnny’s friends.

It took only a few turns before Johnny began losing and he began to panic.

“Come on, Johnny!” called one of his friends as another added, “You can beat this dork!”

“What’s the matter, Johnny?” Atem asked slowly. “Can you not find a way to keep me defenseless?”

He glanced at Téa and saw something flash in her eyes. He allowed himself to smile briefly at the fact that he was getting through to her.

Johnny was still searching his hand for a card to play, and he looked frustrated.

One of his friends kept glancing at Atem, and then pulled out his phone to check something.

Suddenly, his jaw dropped, and he raced to Johnny’s side, pointing to something on his phone.

Atem smirked. So they had realized it. Slowly, he counted down in his head: _Three… two… one…_

“No way this is the same guy!” Johnny yelped, looking quickly back and forth from the phone to Atem.

“Did you finally figure out who you were up against?” Duke called with a laugh, crossing his arms.

Johnny backpedaled, clearing the cards from his duel disk and forfeiting.

Atem frowned.

“So that’s it?” he asked, lowering his own duel disk. “You realize you’ve been dueling a perpetual winner and you immediately back out of the duel, like a coward?”

“I can’t beat you! Nobody ever does!” Johnny replied, looking ready to run.

“Come on, guys! Let’s bounce.”

Téa stood rooted to her spot as Johnny and his groupies headed for the door, not even looking at her as they passed.

“Téa?” Yugi asked cautiously, and she blinked before she looked at him.

“Would you like to sit with us?”

He gestured to the booth, where Joey, Tristan, and Duke had returned, and smiled hopefully at her.

“Um…” Téa glanced at the door, where Johnny’s group had just disappeared, and then sighed.

“Sure. I think I’d like that,” she replied, smiling nervously at him.

“Great!” he beamed, taking Téa’s elbow and leading her to the booth, where the other boys moved over to make room for her.

“Guys, this is Téa. She’s decided to join us tonight.”

**Author's Note:**

> *I was going to have this be an “Atem gets his own body” kind of AU fic, but then I decided to keep it as he just shows up when Yugi notices Tea being ignored etc. Atem because Yami Yugi seemed too dark and intense for this one. Atem can challenge people without sending them to the Shadows as far as I’m concerned.
> 
> *I know Téa would never stand for something like this in the canon, but this is AU so that doesn’t apply. If anyone else is OOC from canon, it’s because this is AU.
> 
> *Don’t get me wrong, I love blondes. Two of my best friends and my sister are natural blondes. I just picked the hair color because I feel like self-absorbed Johnny would have a type—namely, blonde models or athletes. Boost the ego. Idk.
> 
> *“What a way to go” because a few days before typing the line I’d watched Miss Congeniality.
> 
> *I’m not a dancer, so I don’t know much about actual moves or anything. I just tried to describe Téa’s dancing the way it was in the dub ep with Stepps. She’s so joyful and it’s so easy for her to just go with the music.
> 
> *I didn't feel like typing a bunch of dueling moves, so that part is all you're getting.


End file.
